literature

Until now, I’m reconsidering what things to put in our apartment in order to personalize the space, but I was pretty sure I wanted framed things inside. Aside from a framed silk scarf fantasy from last week, I also recalled that I wanted to frame this painting of irises I made on a boring summer about thirteen years ago. I had leftover poster paint bottles and a sketch pad from the drawing/drafting class of the school year earlier, and I thought it would be such a waste not to use them. I had copied these flowers from a children’s book I got from my grade school library:

So when I thought of framing it at the same time with the silk scarf, I also began to question whether I had the color right. Again, I am colorblind and I have a curious problem of identifying and confusing colors from one another. Before I bring this painting to the framing store, I reconsidered whether it was done correctly. So under the pretense of curiously asking Faye about the color of irises, I was stunned to hear that they are normally purple/violet/lavander. I was dumbfounded. All my life, I have deluded myself that irises are blue and I really loved them for that. I have never thought of them as blue. I was living a lie.

Well, a quick Google image search informed me that there are really true blue irises. The catch was I have copied my irises from a children’s book that I loved so much because it was one of those general knowledge textbooks that one can just read on and on. I was recently informed that the iris on top was violet, and the one below was on blue violet. I don’t remember ever using violet in my painting because I only had the basic (labelled) poster paints. My irises painting is still existent in the natural world. But if we were to consider its provenance, then it would be another story because the flowers in the book had different colors.

So aside from the irises painting, I was also surprised to see other things I have made in the same sketch pad. It was evident that I have a tendency to draw faceless figures because it was something I was unable to do. But come to think of it, it is still something I cannot do. LOL Look at the gay overtones of the two: Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer were definitely having a moment (and whose author, Mark Twain, was also incidentally colorblind!).  Meanwhile, Geri is clearly a gay icon, with that iconic Union Jack dress on from the Cool Britannia period of the leate 90s. It was really funny and nostalgic at the same time to peruse old drawings from more than a decade ago. That irises painting might be no Van Gogh, but it deserves its own spot inside my new place. In the bathroom, perhaps? LOL